Ice fishing is a common and popular sport in the colder regions of the United States and Canada and other parts of the world. Ice fishing entails venturing onto an ice covered water body, drilling one or more holes through the ice covering the water body, and lowering a hooked and baited fishing line through the hole and into the water.
In ice fishing's most basic form, the fisherman sits adjacent the hole with the line attached to a fishing rod. Often, however, the fisherman may drill several holes and place a fishing line, having an accompanying sensor device, in each hole. These devices are commonly referred to as tip-ups. This name refers to the movement of a flag on the device from a lowered first position to a raised second position as a result of a fish pulling on a fishing line attached to the tip-up. When the fisherman sees the flag in the raised second position, the line can be braked after the hook is set, and the fish is then reeled in.
An ice fisherman may also drag onto the ice, using a sled, a small hut or house. The house has an opening in the floor through which a hole may be drilled in the ice. The hut may include benches or chairs and a heater. The fisherman can fish within the hut for extended periods of time, while simultaneously having several fishing line sensors or tip-ups in place nearby. From time to time, the fisherman may leave the house to inspect the tip-ups and reel in any fish which may have tripped the flag.
In view of the short periods of daylight during winter in the colder regions, ice fishing often occurs at night. Consequently, prior tip-ups have included a light mounted to the flag. When the flag is in the first position, the light is off, and when the flag is in the second position, the light is on.